How to Move an Exchange Server 2013 Database to a New Location

When you install a new Exchange Server 2013 Mailbox server a database is automatically created on the server as well.

The database is located in the \Mailbox folder of the Exchange installation path, which by default is the C:\ drive therefore a mailbox database will be placed in a path such as:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Mailbox\Mailbox Database 1

Usually this default location is not suitable, so you have two choices:

• Remove the database and create a new one in the desired path
• Move the existing database to the desired path

To move a database to a new location use the Move-DatabasePath cmdlet in the Exchange Management Shell.

Before you proceed please be aware that:

• the command must be run while logged on to the mailbox server hosting the database
• this process requires that the database be dismounted while the move takes place, making it unavailable for mailbox users
• this process should not be followed for databases that are replicated within a Database Availability Group
• this process cannot be run at the same time as a backup is in progress

Also consider that for non-replicated databases the best practice is still to separate the database file and transaction logs onto separate disks.

To move an Exchange 2013 database named “Mailbox Database 1″ to a new EDB file location of E:\Mailbox Database 1 and a new logs folder of F:\Mailbox Database 1 the following command is used.

[PS] C:\>Move-DatabasePath "Mailbox Database 1" -EdbFilePath "E:\Mailbox Database 1\Mailbox Database 1.edb" -LogFolderPath "F:\Mailbox Database 1"

Confirm
Are you sure you want to perform this action?
Moving database path "Mailbox Database 1".
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [?] Help (default is "Y"): y

Confirm
To perform the move operation, database "Mailbox Database 1" must be temporarily dismounted, which will make it
inaccessible to all users. Do you want to continue?
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [?] Help (default is "Y"): y

To check whether the database is mounted and accessible again you can run the following commands.

[PS] C:\>Get-MailboxDatabase -Status "Mailbox Database 1" | Select Name,Mounted

Name               Mounted
----               -------
Mailbox Database 1    True

[PS] C:\>Test-MAPIConnectivity -Database "Mailbox Database 1"

MailboxServer      Database           Result    Error
-------------      --------           ------    -----
E15MB1             Mailbox Database 1 Success